Amherst finished its title run by knocking off the defending national champ. Photo by Ryan Coleman, D3sports.com

Amherst made the most of its third trip in the last four years to Salem, Va., as the Lord Jeffs defeated Virginia Wesleyan 80-67 to claim the school’s first NCAA Division III men’s basketball title.  

Amherst finishes the season with a 30-2 record while Virginia Wesleyan, the 2006 national champion, ends its campaign with a 28-5 mark. 

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“It’s wonderful to be national champs,” explained Amherst coach Dave Hixon, the D3hoops.com Coach of the Year.  “It’s a big deal to be here twice.  We have played in the consolation game.  I have seen film clips and they don’t say Amherst has been there two years ... they just say we haven’t won a game.  Now, we have won two games.  It is a big deal to get that banner.”

Andrew Olson, named the championship series Most Outstanding Player, led five Jeffs in double figures with 15 points to go with five assists. Olson was also named to the D3hoops.com All-America First Team. Brian Baskauskas added 14 points and six boards while Dan Wheeler put up 13 points and seven rebounds.  Tim McLaughlin and Kevin Hopkins each added 12 points and five rebounds to Amherst’s effort.

Ton Ton Balenga shook off a rough semifinal victory to lead Virginia Wesleyan with 19 points including 7-of-7 from the line. Brandon Adair, named to the all-championship series team and the D3hoops.com All-America second team, was the only other Marlin in double figures with 17 points to go with five boards in a full 40 minutes of play.

Amherst duplicated its effort from the night before by jumping on top of the Marlins early in the first half.  Wheeler’s three-pointer with 14:58 on the clock gave the Jeffs an eight-point lead at 12-4.

“We have been notorious for starting slowly, so this week has been a surprise to the fans,” said Olson.  “Those quick starts have been a big boost of confidence.”

Virginia Wesleyan did its best to minimize the momentum, quickly pulling to within one at 12-11 following a jumper by Adair with 13:10 on the scoreboard.  Amherst responded just as swiftly, pushing back out to an eight-point edge after a pair of free throws by Hopkins at 19-11. 

The Jeffs’ enjoyed their first double-digit lead at the 6:27 mark following two free tosses by Olson.  The margin hovered around the 10-point for the next several minutes until Olson canned his second trey of the game to give Amherst a 13 point advantage at 35-22 with 1:58 to go in the half.  Baskauskas capped the stanza’s scoring with a jumper to send the teams into the locker rooms with the Jeffs ahead 39-28.

Neither squad could gain the upper hand at the outset of the second half.  The scoring difference again maintained in the area of 10 points until Wheeler hit a jumper at the 14:51 mark that started the Jeffs on a 10-2 run that saw Amherst’s lead increase to 59-40 with 10:52 to play.

Amherst enjoyed a 20-point lead on three separate occasions, with the latter coming at the 7:28 mark, but the Marlins showed their championship resolve over the next few minutes.  Terrell Dixon hit a three and Stephen Fields made the back-end of two free throws to pull VWC within 16 at 68-52, and Balenga followed with five more charity tosses to bring the Marlins within striking distance at 68-57 with 4:16 to play.

Dixon followed a 1-of-2 effort from the line by the Jeffs’ Brandon Jones with a pair of his own free throw makes to pull the Marlins’ within 10 at the 3:20 mark, but Amherst regrouped with a jumper by Baskauskas and two from the line by Jones to go up 73-59 with 2:21 to play.

The Marlins pulled within 10 two more times down the stretch, but couldn’t get any closer as the Jeffs hit 5-of-6 foul shots within the final minute of play to secure their first national title.

“All I can say is that Amherst played great,” explain Virginia Wesleyan head coach Dave Macedo.  “They deserved it.”

Championship
Amherst 80, Virginia Wesleyan 67
at Salem, Va.